


Did it hurt when you fell from the sky? - Yeah, it was pretty painful.

by GonerLoner



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fallen Angels, Lance sees him falling, M/M, Wings, keith is an angel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-03-28 17:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13908996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GonerLoner/pseuds/GonerLoner
Summary: Lance is on the way to get medicine for his sister.He sees a bright glowing something falling down from the sky...Not something, someone.An angel.





	1. When angels fall

**Author's Note:**

> Finally I finished this. I had this in my notes since New Year's Eve and...uh. Here ya go ma dudes, enjoy it (even tho I don't really think it's that good...)!!

Dark clouds were roaming over the blue sky, creating an eerie atmosphere inside the abandoned park. A cold wind was blowing through the colorful trees, sending dried autumn leaves tumbling to the ground where they crunched under heavy boots.

Messy brown hair hidden under a blueish beanie, a young man was making his way through the park, sniffing from time to time and pulling his jacket tighter around himself, cursing under his breath every few seconds.

His nose was already almost firy red, same for his cheeks and he was sure he would be down with a cold during the next days.

Why was he even outside during this nasty weather?

Why was he the one who had to get his sisters medicine?

As the young man – his name was Lance McClain – stumbled over a bigger stone on the path, he cursed, a lot louder this time and kicked the stone into the bushes as soon as he caught himself again.

Today simply wasn’t his day…first, he had overslept and had arrived at work an hour too late, then his boss had yelled at him for not only this but also spilling the coffee one too many times, burning the pastries, almost falling asleep behind the register…and generally for just being himself.

By the time he had arrived home again, he was ready to throw himself into bed and cry himself to sleep – but of course fate – or, more specifically his mother – had other plans for him.

Madison, his youngest sister, was lying in bed with a quite serious fever; Lance’s mom wanted him to go to the pharmacy at the other end of town to get her what she needed to get better – and of course Lance didn’t object.

He had a shitty day, yes, but…he never dared to talk against his Mamá.

And here he was now…Walking through an abandoned, dark park, trying to somehow stay warm inside his light clothes and cursing over how did it come so far in his life.

Suddenly, a light flashed over the sky, disappearing for a split second before appearing again, getting bigger and bigger – and as Lance was looking up in the dark clouds, eyes wide like saucers, he flinched.

There was something falling from the sky.

Something big, bright and almost white glowing…

And in mere seconds it would directly crash onto the boy.

He squeaked, starting to run, praying to whoever might hear him that this would not happen, that he would still be living and seeing the next day.

As the light got brighter and brighter above him, Lance just threw himself behind a row of bushes, curling himself up as tightly as possible and

The impact caused the ground to shake like during an earthquake.

Lance gritted his teeth as the shockwaves hit him, rattling through his bones. He gripped his head tighter, trying to somehow block out the aftershocks of the deafening crash.

Silence overtook again after a few seconds.

Hesitantly, Lance peeked out behind the tree, his ears ringing.

He knew he probably shouldn’t do that, he should keep going – but his curiosity started to poke him, urging him to check out what had been falling from the sky there.

He knew the stories…he grew up with them. Like every one of his siblings.

His family was quite religious, teaching him about the angels that roamed the sky, about how they fought in the name of the Highest, how they lived.

And how they Fell.

To say Lance was curious was probably the understatement of the year.

So, he slowly stepped out, walking towards the still slightly glowing point of crash and looked inside the sinkhole the crash had caused.

And almost immediately stumbled back again, a shocked gasp escaping his lips.

Somebody was laying on the ground there…a person.

Fuck, his heart wanted to jump out of his chest.

He was suddenly glad the park was so empty…he didn’t want to think about what probably could have happened if there were more people here. If more people had witnessed…what he saw.

For a few seconds, he didn’t move, simply staring at the lifeless body until he saw a slight tremor running over it and– oh fuck, they needed his help.

So, he swallowed, climbing inside and slowly walking towards the person laying on the ground, trying not to trip over stones or get distracted by all those golden sparks floating around him.

The person…stranger… _angel…_ was laying on their back, arms and legs outstretched and…clad in a…what was this…a dress? It looked like that at least…white, flowy and silky, it covered almost the entire body of the stranger – except for the back where it exposed milky white skin, covered in black bruises, dirt and red, angry bleeding wounds.

Lance had to bite back a curse as he saw them and went to kneel next to the seemingly unconscious body.

He wanted to touch their face, their arms, anything to convince himself that they were still alive-

But suddenly, their eyes snapped open and the most intense and vibrant purple irises Lance had ever seen landed on him – before they widened a moment later and a high scream of fear pitched through the air as the stranger tried to get away from Lance.

“Wait!”, he wanted to call, worried because of his – cause now he saw that the stranger looked somewhat more masculine than feminine – injuries but he had no chance to do so.

The stranger broke down again as he realized how badly hurt he was and a barely suppressed whimper of pain reached Lance’s ears.

“You’re…I think you broke your…legs…”, he softly said, raising a hand and trying to catch the stranger’s attention.

Purple eyes turned towards him again at his words, clouded with pain, as they suddenly cleared again and widened in realization, before the stranger suddenly shot up and reached a hand behind himself. Pain flashed over his face and tears welled up in his eyes. “No…no, no, no, please not me…”

Lance already wanted to ask what he meant as a gasp escaped him, and he stumbled backwards as suddenly…black wings appeared behind the stranger.

They were quite big, stretching out from a hunched back to almost reach the sides of the crater, jet-black feathers like those of a raven fluffing out, almost shimmering in the faint light of the full moon, some sinking to the ground and exposing a few rather not so great and rather painful looking holes in the tissue, dark red blood dripping down on the ground.

The wings looked like they had been shot repeatedly…destroyed so he would never be able to fly again.

His brain short circuited for two seconds.

Oh, fuck.

He sat in front of an angel.

No, a Fallen angel.

_Did you really need the wings to convince you of that?_

Okay, Lance had already known it as soon as he had seen the person in the sinkhole but…sue him for not really believing what he saw.

The last time somebody from his family had been witnessing an angel’s Fall was like…over a hundred years ago? Or more? There had been someone of his Mama’s ancestors…he was almost sure about that.

But for now…

Swallowing down a curse, Lance debated on what to do now.

He never thought he would be the next one. The next witness.

Swallowing down his thoughts, he once again tried to speak to the boyish looking angel but he. didn’t even seem to really see him or somehow acknowledging that he was there – judging by the way he curled even more into himself after his pale, bruised fingers had touched the back feathers and the whimper that left his mouth – and he doubted that he would react to further tries of getting his attention.

But he couldn’t leave him behind like that…hell, he looked like he still was a boy, somewhat around Lance’s age…he couldn’t leave him here all alone.

He reached out again, softly laying a hand on the stranger’s knee, grimacing a bit about how hard the other flinched back but trying to not be affected by it.

“Hey, I…I don’t want to do you any harm, I just…I saw you falling and…I want to help you.”

The stranger…no, the angel…stared at him with wide eyes and swallowed, his hands sinking down to his sides, his inky-black hair falling over his eyes as he bowed his head. Gosh, he was beautiful.

But Lance guessed that it was normal for creatures of Heaven…to be this extraordinary gorgeous.

“W-where will you take me?”

Lance was taken aback by the soft and vulnerable sound of his voice.

“I-I don’t know…home probably…you’re pretty bad hurt, I don’t think I can move you around without hurting you more…” He bit his lip, inching a bit closer.

“I…no, it’s okay”, the angel mumbled before Lance could get too close. “I have to get used to those. To…being hurt.” He hesitated. “Being human.”

“Why?” Lance’s eyes widened.

The black-haired boy looked away. “You said you’ve seen my Fall…so you know I am…who I was”, he quickly corrected himself, “an angel. And…yeah.” His voice got quieter. “I was hoping to die but no, of course not…”

A sigh and the beautiful face twisted in agony before those intense eyes landed on Lance again, watching him for a few seconds before looking away again.

He hesitated, mumbling something that sounded like “now I’m bonded to you.”

Lance’s brows furrowed. “Uh…sorry?”

But the angel boy didn’t say more.

So…Lance decided to leave it at that even if he still wanted to press on about that matter.

“So, uh…I understand if you don’t want to leave with me…I mean who am I to be able to help you, heh…” The student chuckled nervously and rubbed his neck a little.

“But…as far as I can see it, I’m your only possibility of getting help…even if you say you have to get used to those injuries…I still would let somebody take a look on them because otherwise you’ll- “

“No!” Wide purple eyes snapped back to him, the boy’s voice pitched high with fear. “No…Please… They’ll…hurt me even more…” He slumped down a little more, holding his chest while his breathing got faster.

Lance let out a curse, snapping forward to help him but hesitating for the last moment.

Fuck…

Then an idea started to form in his mind.

“Hey…it’s okay, I only want to take you home…My mother knows quite a bit about angels. She won’t hurt you, I promise. She’ll just treat your injuries and provide you with a place to stay…where you can heal. Uh…as far as possible.”

_Just shut up, McClain, you’re making things worse…again._

He swallowed at that thought but tried to ignore it.

The angel boy looked at him again, purple eyes watery and still wary but with a faint trace of hope. “Really…?” His voice was so vulnerable…and quiet…

Lance nodded. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

The other boy hesitated for a few more moments, then a faint sigh escaped him. “Okay. I trust you.”

Carefully, he uncurled his hunched form a little and let Lance come closer again, letting the student pick him up with the most care he could manage.

The angel was small. Okay, only a little smaller than Lance himself probably but he was so light…Almost like the student didn’t hold a human in his arms but a bird.

Well, he wasn’t human per se…

The black wings had vanished again, and the student wasn’t so sure how to think about that – so he choose to just ignore it and started walking back home with the boy in his arms, all thoughts at medicine for his sister suddenly non-existent any more.

He would beat himself up later on maybe…but not for now.

The only thing that mattered now was to somehow treat this boy’s injuries – because no matter what he said, he had been falling from a pretty great high and his bones must be almost completely shattered.

He wondered how he had stayed alive…after the Fall.

But on the other hand, angels have been said to be immortal…

Well, that guy felt pretty mortal and fragile, laying in his arms and leaning against his chest the further they came – all of his fear seemingly gone to make place for a bone-deep exhaustion, causing him to slump even more against Lance and letting out a small, sad sigh that made something ache inside the student’s heart.

Nobody…nobody should be able to make such a sound…to be so sad…it simply wasn’t fair.

“Do you…also have a name?”, he quietly asked once they had left the park again.

For a few minutes, there was no answer from the black-haired boy, he just snuggled a bit deeper into Lance’s hold despite his soft hiss of pain.

“Keith.”

The student almost missed the faint whisper against his chest, but he still somehow heard him and smiled a bit. “Okay…don’t worry, Keith. It’s gonna be okay…I’m helping you to get okay again.”

A small nod against his jacket was the only answer he got.

 

Seeing Keith laying in his bed, his wounds treated, the black wings bandaged and tucked against his back, and his face relaxed in his sleep did things to Lance’s mind he was not comfortable admitting out loud.

He sighed a little, leaning against the doorframe as he watched the angel on his bed.

His Mamá had done a good job at hiding her surprise when Lance had been coming inside with an unconscious angel in his arms, instead springing into action quickly: Marco and Lucia, Lance’s older siblings, had been sent to get the material she needed to stitch Keith back up together, Lance was kicked out again to get Madison her medicine – “don’t come back home with another surprise, _cariño_!” – and her husband was asked to help her getting Keith into Lance’s room.

Because it was the biggest one…and he had brought the angel back home.

The younger ones – Lucas, the second youngest of the McClain household, and Aria and Alex, Lucia’s twins – had been banned to their rooms as soon as their mother recognized what…who…Lance was holding in his arms and were not allowed to go near the room as long as their parents were inside.

They wanted to protect Keith from three excitedly screeching kids who had no sense of privacy and would prob and prod at the boy until he answered their questions and…no. Even someone who wasn’t injured like the Fallen and also knew the three kids would not be able to withstand that power for long.

The three oldest siblings were outside the house so no one aside from Isabel McClain and her husband knew how they had been helping the Fallen…but it had been highly effective.

So, Lance decided to not ask

Once again he wondered where exactly his mother had learned about all that stuff…where she had gotten her great knowledge about angels, demons and…how to help a Fallen. How to treat the injuries that inevitable came with the Fall.

The whole family was very religious, but…that couldn’t be the only thing.

Suddenly the pale figure on Lance’s bed tensed, face twisting up in pain and his hand clenching the sheet beneath him. A nightmare?

Carefully, Lance closed the door and approached the bed again, crouching next to Keith’s head and softly placing a hand on his clenched and bandage-covered fist, rubbing his thumb in a circular motion against the back of his hand.

“You’re safe here…don’t worry”, he mumbled quietly, his other hand hesitantly carding through the inky black hair, smiling a little when the action prompted the other boy to slightly lean into his touch, his trembling easing slowly.

But the moment of calmness didn’t last long.

For a few seconds, Keith was breathing regularly – but then his face twisted up again, in a display of desperation.

“Mum…”

The soft word was barely hearable, spoken with a voice once silken like velvet but now rough from sleep, practically drenched in so much longing and desperation that it broke Lance’s heart…

His hand on the boy’s hair resumed its stroking, Lance’s head laying down next to Keith’s and watching the fluttering eyes with worry.

“It’s okay”, he softly whispered, feeling helpless. “I’ll help you get okay again…I won’t leave you alone. I’ll do whatever I can to make you feel better.”

He wondered what had caused this boy’s Fall. He still was so young…and he looked so scared…What had happened to him?

No matter what it was, Lance would be damned if he left this angel alone.

Sighing, he stood up again, walking towards his big armchair and taking a seat, curling himself up into a somewhat comfortable sleeping position and snuggling into the fuzzy blanket he had thrown over himself.

His gaze was on the bed, watching Keith’s every move with a mixture of protectiveness and worry. He had no idea how the other would react to being here – he had agreed to Lance taking him home but…

Sue Lance for being worried. He only wanted the other one to be okay…

His thoughts got interrupted as the door to his room opened and his Mamá looked inside, offering a tired smile as she saw him watching over Keith.

“I have something to eat for you…and for him if he wakes up.” Her chin nodded towards the bed.

Lance nodded, pulling the blanket a little further around himself as she walked in, placing a plate with fruits on the nightstand and then coming over to him to hand him a steaming bowl with what looked like dinner leftovers.

“Thanks, mum.” He took the bowl with a smile and started to eat, watching her nod as her gaze landed on the boy on the bed. She sighed, the wrinkles in her face suddenly more evident than ever, the silver strands in her dark brown hair glistening in the white moonlight.

“I just hope the holes in his wings will heal. His legs will be better in about one or two weeks…but the wings are a different piece of paper.” She paused, her ocean blue eyes, so similar to Lance’s own, landing on her son and she smiled, walking over to him and softly kissing his head.

Surprised, the boy looked up at her, his fork stopping mid-way to his mouth. “Huh?”

“I’m happy that you brought him here”, she admitted. “The last one out of His army had Fallen over two hundred years ago…I never thought a day like this would come again.” A hesitating pause. “He doesn’t look like a warrior though…”

“He’s barely as old as I am”, Lance whispered, his eyes sad as they watched the angel.

His mother sighed and nodded. “I wonder what happened that he had to leave Heaven.”

“Me too…But I guess we never know if he doesn’t want to tell us.”

 For a few moments, there was silence in the dark room.

Then, Isabel McClain sighed again. “I’ll go to bed now, it’s been a long evening. Try to get a bit of sleep too; you’ll need it. Come get me if you need anything.”

With a last kiss to Lance’s head, his mother left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

The blue-eyed boy looked after her, then down into his bowl, slowly continuing to eat as he watched Keith.

He wanted to lay next to the other so desperately…he wanted to calm him down, tell him he was safe, that there was nothing he would have to worry about…

But he knew he couldn’t.

So, he decided to stay on the armchair, putting the bowl away once he had finished his food and curling up a little further.

Keith’s skin seemed to glow a silvery white as it was bathed in the moonlight from outside, now clean from dirt and the bruises already lightened a little bit.

Both his legs were splinted so the broken bones could heal properly, his chest and his arms covered in metres of bandage and he looked so vulnerable like this, so…lost…

He was so beautiful, though.

Lance hoped the other stopped being afraid of him, or was he afraid of humans in general? He didn’t know…whatever it was, he hoped that he could…somehow…help him to trust again.

Maybe it was because he himself felt quite lonely, but he wanted to befriend this angel…wanted to help him, wanted to talk to him, protect him.

Maybe…maybe it was only to give his life a purpose again. Even if the angel boy wouldn’t stay long at their place…Lance would feel better knowing he helped him.

Before his mind could think about more things he wanted from the black-haired angel, his eyes closed and he sank into a deep slumber, dreaming of golden white wings and vibrant purple eyes, sparkling with life and laughter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A somewhat peaceful afternoon in the McClain household - yet a certain tension lies in the air. They all had been surprised by Lance bringing home a Fallen angel, but they can only ask him about it once their day is done.  
> So Lance has the house for himself and decides to get to know that angel, Keith, a little bit better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, okay, I've originally never planned to continue this, so this took a lil while. It might develope into sth bigger, even though I hope it won't be as long as 'Solo Magic'...
> 
> Well, we'll see. I'm still a bit unsure how this came out, but...here ya go.
> 
> Enjoy!

The sun was already peeking through the windows as Lance slowly blinked awake again, his eyelids fluttering as he held onto the lingering remains of his dream.

Laughter still wavered through his mind, chiming like bells made of the finest silver and making him shiver and rubbing his eyes.

It probably still was pretty early in the morning since he didn’t hear anything from downstairs; but probably his siblings would soon rise to begin their day.

He sighed.

Was this all even real?

The light, the crash…the fact that he had witnessed an _angel’s Fall_ … something that hasn’t happened in so long…and probably should also never have happened again after the first one Fell…after His right hand had left the sky and now was reigning the realms of Hell.

Maybe not every Fallen was damned to rot in the underworld…that would at least explain why Keith was here.

On earth.

Or, well, clearly alive and…maybe this was a lighter kind of punishment…

Okay, no, it would be no use to wonder about all these thoughts.

So, he tried to shake off every thought about Heaven and Hell, looking towards his bed and pausing for a moment as he took in the bright, slim figure under the sheets.

Keith was the only reminder he needed to know that yesterday had definitely been real…and not some product of his too-imaginative mind because why would he, Lance McClain, be the one to see an angel Fall from the sky, why would he be the one to who violet-blue eyes looked up, wide in pain and fear and still glimmering with a shimmer of hope.

Yeah, Lance didn’t understand why it was him…but time wasn’t turning back and he wanted to help the poor boy.

Whatever that may look like during the next days.

Forcing himself to calm down his suddenly hammering heart, Lance sat up and stretched a bit, groaning quietly at the joints popping in his back. The armchair may be the next most comfortable resting place after his bed, but…spending a whole night curled up and with no place to turn…

Let’s say, he was glad that he could still move.

Ocean blue eyes continued watching the sleeping angel on his bed, narrowing a little as a soft smile spread over Lance’s face.

He stood up, walking towards the bed and slowly sitting down on it, the mattress slightly dipping under his weight.

It didn’t take long for Keith to open his eyes.

A tremor ran over his whole body, causing him to let out a shaky sigh as he shivered for a few seconds before his eyes closed again briefly, staying like that for a few more moments until they opened again and looked at Lance.

He looked tired, his expression otherwise not readable.

The student smiled, softly and soothing, keeping his voice down. “Hey…good to see you awake. How do you feel?”

Keith didn’t answer for a moment, his purple eyes roaming around the room, taking all of it in. He bit his lip a bit before he looked down on himself, flinching a little as he saw the bandages and the splints on his legs. Trying to lift one arm to look at it up closer – but as soon as he moved it, his face twisted in pain and he let it fall on his side again, not moving for a few seconds.

Then his eyes found Lance’s again. “Where did you bring me?”, he asked softly, skipping his question.

“Back to my home…as I told you. You’ve been hurt pretty badly…My mother stitched you up again, though. Even your wings. She said they’ll take some time until they’re okay again but…they’re going to heal. Same for you. Uh, the rest of you, I mean.” He smiled.

At the mention of his wings, Keith looked behind himself where the black feathers were tucked against his back and he flinched, at both the movement and the sight of the jet-black wings, which already looked…actually, they seemed to be slightly blurring at the edges, turning into something more shadowy and intangible.

A sad look crossed the black-haired boy’s features and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, looking like he was trying to suppress tears.

Lance felt helpless, wanting to reach out to comfort Keith but having no idea what he could say.

Keith’s hand clenched into a fist again and he laid still for some more moments before he looked back at Lance again. His eyes were shining.

“I’ll be forever grateful that you helped me so much…but…”, he swallowed. “I will never be able to fly again with these wings…They’re practically useless to me.” He looked away.

Lance’s brows furrowed; what should he say to that?

Well...for now the boy probably had other things to worry about.

Like…his health.

So, the brown-haired boy sighed a little and touched Keith’s hand softly. “Hey…you don’t know about that yet; my mum knows what she’s doing. How ‘bout you eat something now? I guess you’re hungry.” He went for a casual and cheery tone, trying to raise the mood a little.

He showed Keith the plate with fruits and the other examined it a little with furrowed brows, taking one of the red grapes and plopping it into his mouth, his eyes closing at the taste.

It made Lance smile.

“Yeah…I’m indeed hungry.” Keith sounded almost ashamed to admit that, with a careful glance towards Lance he took more of the small red fruits, eating them all as well as the sliced apple and the carefully separated orange until only a cut up mango remained.

Lance chuckled as he saw Keith hesitating, his hand hovering over the last fruit and his eyes looking up at Lance in question.

He handed the plate to him. “You can eat that too, it’s okay. I’ll be eating downstairs when my mum has breakfast ready.”

Keith tensed up a little at his mention of him having to leave, it was only slightly but Lance didn’t miss it. He frowned as worry slipped into his tone.

“Is everything okay?”

Keith sighed and looked away. “I just…don’t want you to leave.” There was this vulnerable voice again, it made him sound so small that Lance just wanted to beat up everyone who ever thought that hurting Keith would be a good idea, no matter if they were creatures of the sky or not.

And simultaneously drape himself over the other and shield him from everything that could possibly harm him.

He couldn’t stand seeing Keith this small, like he was trying to disappear within himself, and a small part of him wondered why that was the case – but the bigger part ignored that small voice and roared at Lance to protect that boy, for Heaven’s sake.

But at the same time, he knew he couldn’t stay up here with Keith forever…even if he wanted to.

He blinked slowly. “It’s…okay, I won’t be away for too long, trust me. I wouldn’t leave you.” He tried a small smile. “Don’t worry about it, just eat the mango. I can…also get you something to drink if you want to.”

The young angel nodded slowly, trying to sit up a bit more but twisting his face in pain as he moved. “Everything hurts…”

“That’s because you injured yourself quite a bit during the Fall.” Quickly Lance moved to fluff up the pillows behind his back, helping Keith to sit up and lean against them in a somewhat comfortable position. “That okay?”

“Yeah…thank you.”

And even though the smile Keith sent him was a bit weak, it still managed to make his heart skip a beat.

He watched the angel slowly eating the rest of the fruits, putting the plate on the nightstand again as he was finished. “Should I get you some water?”

Keith nodded, watching him with big eyes as he stood up, snatching the empty glass from his table and walking towards the door. “I’m keeping it open, just gonna go to the bathroom and get you some, alright? Be back in a second.”

Lance saw that the other wanted to reach out for him but let his hand drop to his side again, nodding slowly and leaning back.

He looked exhausted already.

Well…that healing process would take a bloody lot of time.

The student swallowed, slipping out of the room and walking into the bathroom next door, stopping for a second as he saw Lucia standing there, a towel around her head and brushing her teeth. She finished then looked at him with a smile, her blue eyes – a shade darker than his own – sparkling lightly in the morning light. “Morning.”

“Hey.” He smiled briefly as he stood next to her, filling up the glass with tap water.

“How is he? You two gave us quite a scare yesterday. Where’d you even find him?” She was watching him, he could feel it. It made him sigh a bit.

“He’s…awake, I don’t know if I could say that he’s okay. But I think he’ll be, it will only take a lot of time.” He gave his sister a smile, leaning against her for a second as she pulled him to her side.

“And…I was walking through the park when I saw him Falling. I thought I would die…because it looked like he would crash right into me.”

She chuckled, ruffling his hair a little. “Bullshit. You don’t get to die that easily.” Then she drew back again, pulling the towel from her damp chestnut-brown curls and shaking them out a little.

“Mamá said she and Papá will be gone until the afternoon. They’ll gonna take Madison to the doctor again, apparently her fever went alarmingly high again…” Lucia’s face darkened a little and she sighed, abandoning her worried expression for a small smile.

“I’ll take Luca to school and the twins to daycare, Marco will leave for work in half an hour. Mamá already called the Garrison, said you wouldn’t make it today – which means you two boys have the house all for yourselves.” She smiled.

Lance blinked a little. “And…and what if I need something or don’t know what to do?? Mum knows about all this stuff! I don’t!” He felt a little panicky about the thought that he would be all alone with Keith until the afternoon.

But…

Wasn’t that what he wanted?

“Calm down, Lance, you can always call her if something happens or you don’t know what to do anymore. Mamá said she left pain meds for him downstairs…in case he needs any. And they’ll be back this afternoon – it will be fine, don’t worry.” Lucia gave him a last kiss at his cheek then she left the bathroom, putting on a dark sweater as she walked back into her room. “We’ll talk in the evening!”

Oh, he had no doubt about that.

Once everyone was home in the evening, they would not hesitate to shoot question after question at him and probably also Keith…He had to prepare him for that.

Lance swallowed as he slowly walked back into his room, sitting on the bed next to the angel boy.

Carefully, he held the glass so the other could drink out of it, watching him carefully as he drank. He smiled as Keith sighed a little once it was empty. “Thank you.”

He leaned back again, his eyes half-lidded as he watched Lance with an exhausted smile who nodded and placed the glass on the nightstand again. “Do you…need anything else? Or are you tired and want to sleep again?”

Keith furrowed his brows a bit. “I’d like to, but…everything here hurts…”

Lance bit his lip. “I might have something to relieve it a bit…if you want me to get it? My mum left it downstairs, I have to go get it… but I’ll be staying with you for this whole afternoon afterwards”, he added as he saw how the other boy was hesitating.

“I promise.”

Keith sighed and nodded eventually, the pain in his limbs apparently winning over his struggles. “Okay…”

Lance smiled at him before leaving the room again and hurrying downstairs, seeing the small glass bottle that had been left at the dinner table with a tablespoon and a little note. The house was almost empty, only the chatter of the three smallest McClains still was heard as Lucia got them ready for school and daycare.

He quickly read the note – “One tablespoon, every four hours. It should sooth his pains better than normal medicine” – and nodded to himself, grabbing something to eat from the kitchen – he still had to eat but he didn’t want to leave Keith for longer than necessary so he only quickly made himself a bowl of cereal – before making his way up into his room again, smiling as Keith immediately looked up at him as he entered.

Damn, he could get used to this.

“Here, this should help you.” He put the cereal bowl on his desk and sat next to the angel boy again, opening the bottle and carefully filling the spoon with a few drops of the thick, green liquid. It smelled like many different herbs and lemon.

Leaning a bit forward, he raised the spoon to the other boy’s lips and watched as he slowly drank it up, immediately pulling a face as he swallowed it. Apparently, it tasted quite bitter.

All McClain kids had had their fair share of bitter medicine, but it never had been pills or anything else from the pharmacy.

It was always something their mother made for them, she always seemed to know what was needed to help her kids feel better again.

Still, it wasn’t always very pleasant, so Lance’s face twisted a little in sympathy. “You’ll feel better soon, believe me. My mum knows what she’s doing, she said this would help you more than uh…normal medicine.”

“If she says so…it tastes really gross, though.” The angel yawned a bit, leaning back against the pillows again and watching Lance with sleepy eyes.

“I heard children talking earlier…who are those?”

Lance grinned, putting the medicine away and standing up again to get his breakfast. “My brother Luca, my niece Aria and my nephew Alex. My sister was getting them ready for school.” He sat in the armchair next to the bed again, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged as he started to eat.

Keith nodded, smiling as he watched him for a few seconds. Boy, that smile looked great on him, especially when he looked so pliant and content.

“Do you have more siblings?”

“Uhm…yeah, four. The youngest one is Madison, she just turned eleven; she’s been ill for a few days and my parents went with her to see a doctor again. I hope it’s nothing too serious…

Then Luca, he’s nine, then me – I’m the middle child, I’m seventeen. Then Lucia, she’s twenty-four and Aria and Alex are her children. They’re twins and will soon turn four. The oldest of us is Marco, he’s twenty-nine.”

Keith nodded again, snuggling a bit more into the blankets. “I like children”, he softly said.

“I sometimes was allowed to look down on earth during my training and I was always…fascinated by them…so small creatures.” He paused, his eyes drifting away. “I always wanted to be assigned to a child.”

Silence for a few seconds.

“If I may ask…what was that kind of training? My mum said you look a bit too young to be a warrior…” Lance tried to keep his tone as soft as possible, because even if he was dying to know more about the life Keith had before his Fall, he knew it must pain the other to talk about it.

Keith looked at him again, smiling slightly, still a faraway look in his eyes. “That’s because I wasn’t. My mother was a warrior in Heaven’s army, but I had been trained to become a guardian angel…” He interrupted himself with a yawn.

“But well, my education ended shortly before my Fall. So…” He shrugged, his face morphing into something of equal parts bitter and sad.

Lance swallowed, his hands clutching the bowl in his hands, the cereal sloppy and sludgy and suddenly he didn’t want to eat it anymore. Something told him that something big had caused Keith’s Fall…and he wasn’t even really to blame for it.

“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to…I can wait if you have more you want to tell us someday.”

He looked towards the door.

It was quiet outside now, Lucia must have left the house with the three children.

Hmmm…

The thought of his sister gave him an idea.

“Do you want to meet the kids when Lucia comes back with them?” He smiled softly as Keith’s eyes widened a fraction and a smile slowly spread over his face, erasing his look of sadness.

Probably he just needed to be distracted to forget about his pain…if only for a bit.

The angel boy nodded. “Of course! And…and I want to meet your mother too…I’ve already thanked you for helping me that much and…not leaving me, but…I want to thank her too. She…stitched me up after all, as you said.” He bit his lip, blushing in the faintest pink.

Oh, damnit… _he is so adorable, holy shit!_

Lance blinked at that thought and tried to ignore it without blushing himself. It was true, the black-haired boy was dangerously cute with that blush on his cheeks but…he could not think about him like this.

Just ignore the fact that he already did.

So, he tried to smile. “Uh, my parents won’t be back until the afternoon, actually my whole family is out of the house right now…but you’ll get your opportunity in the evening. So”, he drawled the last word out for a bit.

“Is there anything you wanna do? I mean, I bet it’s gonna be a bit boring to only stay here in my room for the whole time…am I right?”, he chuckled a bit nervously.

Keith blinked for a bit, cocking his head to the side. “Actually…” He hesitated, but before he could continue speaking, a song started blaring and both boys flinched greatly as Shakira started singing about how hips never lied.

Hunk was calling him.

Oh fuck…that was definitely because he was absent today and poor Hunk was worrying about him. What did his mother tell his teachers?? Shit, he had to stop him before he came over…

So, Lance stumbled towards the table, nearly dripping over his clothes on the floor in his haste – for which these earned a hearty curse – and eventually picking up his phone, trying his best to make his voice sound as sick as his mother said he would be. “Hey, Hunk…” He let himself drop on his desk chair, staring out of the window.

“Lance, are you okay??” Said Lance flinched and held the phone a little away from his ears.

Jeez, since when had Hunk become so loud on the phone? Okay, he tended to get loud when he was worried, so Lance guessed it was because of that…

He sighed quietly, holding the phone at his ear again just as Hunk continued. “-in class today and Iverson said your mum has called and said you had a pretty serious infection…okay no, then you’re definitely not okay…but I’m worried, Matt’s worried, Shiro’s worried, damnit, even Pidge’s worried! We…what happened, are you gonna be okay again? Should I-“

“Hunk, no, stop, please, wait a second…” Lance closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in and letting out a cough that didn’t even sound very fake…Okay, maybe he was really coming down with something. Not that he didn’t already suspected it yesterday.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to come over”, he continued after catching his breath again.

“Mamá’s looking out for me and you probably shouldn’t come here during the next uh…the next week or so because apparently I’m highly contagious and I don’t want you to get sick too.”

“A whole week?? Jesus, then it really must be something serious…” Hunk’s mumbling still sounded frantic and Lance cut in before he could start rambling again.

“Hunk…Hunk, my best boo, I’ll be alright. It’s probably just a nasty case of stomach flu – you won’t even know I’m away, trust me.”

“Wouldn’t be so sure about that…It’s so quiet without you and remember, you’re the only one who keeps us from going completely nuts here.” A deep breath. “Okay, Pidge’s gonna send you all the notes from class because finals will start in three weeks and you can bet that Shiro’s going to call you too, he-“

“He also can’t come over…” Another cough. “Hunk, please tell them. Really, no one should visit me right now.”

Lance almost felt bad for lying to his friend like that…but one look back at Keith and he knew why he was doing this.

He tried to ignore the dread that filled him at Hunk’s mention of finals…he’d totally forgotten that. Which meant that he probably had to learn while Keith would be sleeping, meaning he himself wouldn’t get that much sleep, if even…

But what was a preparation for finals week without pulling all-nighters three weeks before and desperately living of only caffeine and willpower alone.

It wasn’t that he never had done this – hell, their group (without Shiro and Matt, they were at college already but frequently visited the three friends after school) was in their last year of high school and they had always sat together for desperate last-minute late-night learning sessions – but he had never done this alone.

And it made him shiver a bit, the thought of having to go though tons of information without the help of his two best friends.

Hunk’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts again.

“O-okay, I’ll tell him. But if I hear one word that you need any of us or as soon as your mum says you’re free to visit again, I’ll be at your place in a second.”

That made Lance smile.

“I don’t doubt that.”

They said their goodbyes and he turned his chair to look at Keith again after hanging up and putting his phone into the pocket of his jeans. The other boy was watching him intently, his eyelids drooping and his head sinking back into the pillows.

“Who’re you talking with?”, he asked sleepily. “And…everything okay with you?”

Lance paused, blinking owlishly at Keith’s question. “Of course I am, why do you ask?”

“Jus’ sound not r’lly good…” The angel sounded like he would fall asleep any time now, his words slurring together and the wings behind his back blurring in and out of focus until they merely looked like shadows in the form of wings.

He yawned, his body slowly sinking into a lying position again and his sleepy violet eyes trained on Lance. “You…you’ll stay here?”, he asked, his voice quiet.

“Of course. I promised I wouldn’t leave.” Lance smiled, making his way towards the bed again and sitting on it, hesitating for a few seconds. “Is it okay if I stay here too? I mean, I would just lie down next to you, my armchair isn’t that comfortable on the long run…”

Keith’s only response was a slow blink of his eyes, then he turned fully towards Lance, groaning softly at the movement and grabbing his shirt, tugging on it after a few seconds.

“Uh…okay, taking that as a yes”, the student chuckled, shedding his socks and crawling under the covers next to the other boy.

As soon as he was settled, Keith scooted closer to him, yawning some more and cuddling softly into Lance’s side, an arm settling around his middle.

A sigh was heard and before the student could react any further, the former angel was asleep.

“Huh.” Lance blinked a little baffled but couldn’t help the smile that spread over his face.

He thought he couldn’t get closer to the boy – due to instinctive barriers his mind told him he had to accept –, but here he was…and oh Lord, he never had a guy this pretty at his side.

He carefully lifted his arm to carefully place it around Keith’s shoulders, grinning slightly as a tiny sigh escaped rosy lips and the mop of black hair pressed a little more against his neck.

Lance exhaled, feeling a little light-headed as he watched Keith.

Never in life would he ever get tired of admiring a person of such beauty.

Never.

But now he still had a few hours to kill until the first ones of his family would come home again…

So, he took his phone out again, checking his messages, briefly looking through the notes Pidge sent him and groaning quietly at how much it was.

Well…looks like he found a way to spend the next hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if I made the characters a little too ooc, but...laws of fanfiction. I get to do that, haha.


	3. Might be taking a break...

Hey Guys!

I have to do this, I'm sorry...but I think it will take a while until I'm able to update this story again. Uni is kicking my ass hard rn and I already have troubles with updating "Solo Magic" (if there are some people here who're reading that too...).

I've already been writing on a new chapter but then I was stupid and accidentally deleted what I had written so far of "Fallen Angel" (I'm just gonna call this story like this now, Idk why I decided on such a long name.) and...well. So I had to copy it from here and I had the new chapter almost finished...and now I'm too frustrated to start it again - it's just too much with an already ongoing story and the way our profs are deciding to shower us with homework...

But I don't want to leave you in the open and not update this here for months or so without at least saying the reason that I don't have time...I don't even know why I started another story next to my currently biggest one.

I hope you guys can understand that...

I won't abandon this story, though. Idk how long it will take - but I'll finish "Solo Magic", then I'll continue with "Fallen Angel".

Just hoping that some of you will still be around by then...

I love you all very much! And sorry that I have to go on a hiatus again with a story...why am I not able to write more than one story at once...

 


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